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2.

a review of GTX29 will be nice, but we already know that is faster than 4870X2. The question is in what games, apps, etc.

And mister Gavric, one request please. In games that show like 1920x1200 150fps with 4xAA/16xAA, lets try to push the cards a little to the limmit to see exactly how are they working with truly hi-def quality. Best way is to put the antialiasing at 8x, using edge detect, transparency AA, etc. I mean noone cares if the GTX285 can output 170fps and the 4870X2 150fps. Everybody is interested about how the cards work in super high-quality - where 40fps vs 25fps realy makes a difference.

p.s.

why not use in tests 16xAA or 24xAA if the card makes it possible? Except Crisys and Stalker, all other games can be runned using those values. Now that will be an interesting test to see the diferences in performance using higher values of AA!

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4.

On page 12 you comment you had to tone down the settings in GTA4 due to a "512MB" memory limit or something. Which card exactly only had 512MB that required this downgrade in graphics? As near as I could tell, the GTX 260 was the lowest in VRAM with 896MB...

I'll second the question - no OC test results or even comments?

It would be cool to see a multiGPU roundup - 9800GX2, GTX295, 4850X2, 4870X2.

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I purchased the Radeon 4850 X2 2GB card 3 days ago (upgrade from nVidia 8800 GTS OC) and nearly sent it back due to the
ridiculous noise it makes.

Having scoured the internet for a solution (editing profiles, downloading new bios updates etc) I came to the conclusion that
I was going to have to put up with it.

It is true you can set the fan speed to 20% via the Catalyst Control Centre, however this is actually louder than automatic,
which seems to run at 12%.

At 3am last night however, I found a way which gives you the best of both worlds; superb gaming performance which is cooler than before but also non-gaming noise levels that are so low, my hard disk makes more noise &#61514;

The main reason for the excessive noise, is ATI/Saphires’ over conservative and inefficient approach to cooling their card. With the method listed below, I am able to get an idle temperature of 42 degrees celcius and a load temperature of 62 degrees celcius without spending a penny. My idle fan speed is 2% and anything above 50 degrees celcius has a % increase in fan speed relative to the temperature of the card (as it should be).

To achieve this, just follow these steps:
1. Download and install ‘Radeon Bios Editor’ (RBE) http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/Utilities/RBE/
2. Download and install ‘ATI WinFlash’ http://www.techpowerup.com/downloa [...] 0.1.7.html
3. Run RBE and click the ‘Acquire/flash’ icon at the bottom
4. Locate your installed ‘ATI WinFlash’ software by clicking browse at the top right (ATIWinFlash.exe)
5. Click ‘Analyze’ at the bottom to refresh the attached graphics card list
6. Select the first adapter in the list and click ‘Acquire Bios’ at the bottom
7. The Bios will be load into the RBE program
8. Click ‘Save Bios’ so that you have a backup copy of the adapters default bios settings (safety first)
9. Select the ‘Fan Settings’ tab at the top
10. Select the ‘Use transfer function (recommended)’ button under ‘Fan throttle control settings’ heading
11. Change the following:
‘Tmin (C)’ to 50
‘Duty cycle min (%)’ to 2
‘Hysteresis (%)’ to 10
‘Tmin hysteresis (C)’ to 4
12. Select the ‘Additional features’ tab at the top
13. Select the ‘Fix/already fixed’ button under ‘Fix spin up bug’ heading
14. Click the ‘Acquire/flash’ button at the bottom
15. Click the ‘Flash Bios’ button at the bottom (this will apply the changes listed above)
16. It may ask you to reboot, but say ‘No’ if you have the other GPU adapter to update aswell
17. Repeat points 6 to 15, but selecting the second adapter
18. When you click ‘Flash Bios’ on the second adapter, it may notify you the product number is different, but continue anyway
19. Once updated, say ‘Yes’ to rebooting
20. Once rebooted you should notice a strange sensation of your ears going back to normal

I use a ‘Tmin (C)’ setting of 50 degrees celcius, because this is the level my card temperature sits below when idling. This level may be different for your system, so you may need to experiment.
You will have noticed than when you were inputting the numbers, the graph on the right also changes. With the figures selected above you will get a linear increase in fan speed corresponding to a similar increase in card temperature after 50 degrees celcius (the graph can be manually adjusted to suit your needs).

I hope this guide has been useful but please note any changes made your cards Bios is at your own risk.

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6.

I also made the BIOS update, now the card is virtually silent in idle.

I also removed the black shroud from the card (easy, just 8 screws), and immediately saw lower idle and load temps, and most importantly LESS NOISE. The shroud is there both to direct airflow (=make noise) and for STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY, so if you remove the shroud, you should somehow reinforce the card to prevent any bending/snapping.

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7.

When changing the settings for each of the gpus, the update 4xx0-BIOS option isn't selectable according to Fletchers procedure. You need to flash both gpus a second time, then they are available. Anywayss... I don't think the BIOS update worked for me... it still sounds pretty noisy... Help plz fletcher!